Full Print Edition

Civil War plays to kick off ‘Olmsted 2022’

Gerry Wright, founder and president of Friends of Jamaica Pond, will be starring in “Olmsted and Whitman: The Civil War Years” April 22 at the First Church in JP. The two one-man shows are a kickoff to Olmsted 2022, a plan to build on the beliefs and ideas of Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer behind the Emerald Necklace and Central Park.

“The places [Olmsted] created are open spaces for the entire public and provide long-term health benefits for us and our planet,” wrote Alison Yoos of the nonprofit Community Caring Institute (CCI) in an email to the Gazette.

CCI is sponsoring the April 22 event in partnership with the Friends of Jamaica Pond, Arborway Coalition, the Jamaica Plain Forum, Olmsted 2022 Project and the First Church of Jamaica Plain Unitarian-Universalist.

The idea behind Olmsted 2022 is to entice groups to perform acts during the next 10 years that recognize Olmsted’s beliefs. They could be as small as planting a tree, or as large as creating new park space. The efforts would then be celebrated in 2022 on Olmsted’s 200th birthday, according to Yoos.

An Olmstead fan

If you’re interested in the play, it starts at 7 p.m. and is free of charge:
First Church in Jamaica Plain
at Eliot and Centre Streets.